Comic Corner: You have my bow, and my axe!

‘Dungeons & Dragons: Legends of Baldur’s Gate Vol. 1 Tyranny of Dragons’ review

By Brittney MacDonald, Life & Style Editor

4/5

I have never played Baldur’s Gate, but fans of the classic PC game will be happy to hear that this particular translation of game-into-comic actually worked out fairly well. This comic series is dynamic, funny, and filled with unexpected turns. But what else would you expect out of a book that contains a giant miniature space hamster?

Legends of Baldur’s Gate takes place several “generations” after the events of the original game. It follows fan-favourite Minsc, a slightly crazy ranger with a penchant for battle and small furry rodents, along with his constant hamster companion, Boo, as they team up with Delina, a young elf mage. Together these three misfits plan to save the world from a new rising evil, but first, they’ll probably have to gather a full party.

Written by Jim Zub, Legends of Baldur’s Gate plays out almost like a tabletop game. The narrative is vague in the beginning as characters are introduced, and their talents highlighted. I would have preferred to see a bit more variety. Every fantasy fan knows the classic setup of mage, ranger, archer, and warrior, so it wasn’t hard to see where the plot was going, at least not in this volume. However, I did appreciate how funny this was compared to other titles available in this epic fantasy genre.

Illustrated by Max Dunbar and Sarah Stone, the aesthetic of the book is slightly cartoony, especially during the comedic moments. That being said, the panels are still highly detailed, yet clean. The overall look of the comic is pretty bright thanks to its use of colour theory, and opposition rather than cell shading.

I enjoyed this read, and will probably continue with the series. I definitely recommend this to all the role-playing game fans out there.